Sorting out top-class wines

The tasters are overjoyed: of over 100 wines that were submitted, this rosé is of exceptional quality. “Fresh, dry, pleasant – a real summer wine,” says one; “incredibly well rounded,” says another; “delicate,” says a third. They also praise its harmony and the balance between sugar and acidity. If a wine is to win jurors over so unanimously, not only must there be no hitches in the processes it goes through at the winery, but all weather-related factors need to stack up, too. For a vintage to be good, the weather has to have encouraged the growth of the grapes at the right time and offered a proper balance of sun and rain over the course of the year. But in Germany, the weather can often quite literally ruin the harvest for winemakers. A novel piece of optical sorting equipment is set to help make the most out of grapes’ quality. Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Optronics, System Technologies and Image Exploitation IOSB in Karlsruhe are working to develop the equipment together with Armbruster Kelterei-Technologie GmbH, Ingenieurbüro Waidelich and Geisenheim University in the GrapeSort project, which is funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology BMWi.

Further information: cordis.europa.eu